Markus Baer

Biography

Baer’s research interests include creativity and innovation in organizations, such as problem formulation, idea generation and solution implementation. Beyond teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, he is on the editorial board of Organization Science, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and the Academy of Management Journal. HE is frequently invited to speak at international conferences regarding organizational behavior.

Prior to teaching, Baer worked in the German automotive industry and, as a co-founder of a startup venture, consulted for firms in Europe and Asia.

Stories

Companies often pride themselves on creating a collaborative culture that encourages the free-flow of ideas between colleagues. But a recent study co-authored by Olin Business School’s Markus Baer shows that territorial marking in the office can quickly squash much sought-after workplace creativity.

Women tend to outperform men when it comes to collaboration and creativity in small working groups, but force teams to go head to head in highly competitive environments and the benefits of a female approach are soon reversed, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Chairs provide great support during long meetings, but they may also be holding us back. Standing during meetings boosts the excitement around creative group processes and reduces people’s tendencies to defend their turf, according to a new
Washington University in St. Louis study that used wearable sensors to measure participants’ activity levels.

Coming up with creative, fresh ideas does not necessarily imply that theywill ultimately be put into practice. However, the odds of one’s ideas making it into practice are better
when people are driven to push their ideas through the organization and
are savvy networkers, finds new research from Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Ideas are all around us — helping solve problems,
develop new products, and make important decisions. Good ideas are
rarely created in a vacuum, however. They often emerge when people
refine their ideas in response to suggestions and comments received from
colleagues.Having
strong bonds to an idea can make that necessary collaboration
challenging, finds new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
The study suggests that psychological ownership — the extent to which people feel as though an object, or idea, is truly theirs— may be at the root of this phenomenon.